Table of contents

• Gary: The gardener
• 21: Products & services
• 22: Suppliers & vendors
• 23: Equipment & machines
• 24: Processes & procedures
• 25: Inventory & stock
• 31: Marketing, PR, & communications
• 32: Sales channels
• 33: Customers & clients
• 34: Orders & jobs
• 35: Shipping & fulfillment
• Jane: The landscaper

Gary

The gardener

Gary delivers a tangible service. So he’s at the very top right of our quadrant chart.

This is how he might use categories 20-39.

21

Products & services

🟠 Lightly used

Gary’s business is simple. He’ll do anything for $30/hour as long as it’s mowing the grass. That’s his product.

22

Suppliers & vendors

🟠 Lightly used

Gary needs bags to take away cut grass and a new mower occasionally. He just goes to the local hardware store and probably doesn’t have strong links to any suppliers.

23

Equipment & machines

🟠 Lightly used

Gary does use equipment. He should keep the purchase and warranty details here. But if he’s just mowing grass, this won’t be too busy.

24

Processes & procedures

🟠 Lightly used

Gary won’t have many documented processes. Mowing isn’t complicated.

But take note: every business should document their processes. That’s why this isn’t marked as unused.

25

Inventory & stock

🔴 Not used

Gary cuts grass. He doesn’t put in plants and shrubbery. He holds no inventory or stock. Businesses that are pure service delivery often don’t.

31

Marketing, PR, & communications

🟠 Lightly used

You know of Gary because he put a leaflet in your letterbox last week. Simple, but still marketing.

32

Sales channels

🟠 Lightly used

Gary takes cash-in-hand (don’t tell the tax office). So he doesn’t have much that would go here.

Businesses that deliver a tangible service are more likely to be local/in-person. It’s hard to do remotely. So maybe you don’t have many sales channels. But who knows? Tell us if you do.

33

Customers & clients

🟢 Heavily used

He doesn’t keep many records. But if he did, they’d be here. That’s why this is green. Everyone has customers. At the very least we hope he has a spreadsheet of contacts. Then if business is slow he can ring around.

34

Orders & jobs

🟢 Heavily used

Similarly, it’d be smart at tax time if Gary had a list of completed jobs and how much each was worth. Better than trying to back-calculate from bank statements.

35

Shipping & fulfillment

🔴 Not used

Someone calls, he turns up, and the job is done. ‘Fulfillment’ for us means processing and shipping an order. Unlikely if a business is pure service delivery.

Jane

The landscaper

Jane started like Gary. She worked hard and has now built a successful business that employs six people.

They have ride-on mowers and provide full landscaping services, which she quotes as individual jobs. She makes 3D renderings as part of the quoting process.

Jane is still in the top right of the quadrant with Gary. But she’s moved towards the centre.

21 Products & services

Jane has a more comprehensive list of services. She builds quotes from this list, pulling together some hours of basic gardening at one cost, landscaping at another, and plant supply at wholesale cost plus a markup.

22 Suppliers & vendors, 23 Equipment & machines

She has a formal relationship with a rural supplies store. The equipment she uses isn’t at the local hardware shop. She records everything at 23.

24 Processes & procedures

Jane has processes that document how/how often to clean and check the equipment. Having this written down means she can give it to an apprentice on their first day rather than spending hours explaining stuff.

For many service-orientated businesses, their processes are the business. Jane can’t cash out of the business if everything is in her head. By writing it down, she’s done the smart thing. She’s made herself redundant.

25 Inventory & stock

Jane offers a full landscaping service. She keeps some common plants in stock because it’s cheaper to buy them in bulk. She tracks them here. But unless she opens a garden centre, this probably won’t be too busy.

As a result, all of these categories have moved from 🟠 ‘lightly used’ and are probably 🟢 ‘heavily used’ by Jane’s business.

Next

An accountant delivers an intangible service.